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Apple has officially reached a licensing agreement with Swiss Federal Railway (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) to continue to use the design of its iconic station clocks for the iPad's Clock app. How much Apple is paying to use the design is unknown, however, as both parties have agreed to keep the terms of the deal private.

Apple's designers apparently liked the iconic Swiss railway clock so much—with its sweeping red second hand that looks like a railway signal flag—that it essentially copied the design for the iPad's new Clock app, introduced in iOS 6. However, SBB noted shortly after the release of iOS 6 in September that the clock design, an icon of SBB and Switzerland itself, was copyrighted and trademarked.

An SBB spokesperson said that the iPad Clock app was "an unauthorized use [of the clock's design] by Apple," and that it was contacting Apple to work out a "legal and financial" resolution to the issue. The SBB later clarified that it was "rather proud that a brand as important as Apple is using our design," and that it wasn't necessarily demanding money for use of the design. It's worth noting that SBB does license the clock's design around the world, perhaps most famously to watchmaker Mondaine, so we suspect Apple did in fact pay for use of the design.

The SBB railway clock was originally designed in 1944 by engineer and designer Hans Hilfike. SBB said in a statement that the design has become "a symbol of innovation and reliability," qualities it believes are shared by both SBB and Switzerland.

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The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

That *is* how Swiss railway clocks work. When the second hand reaches the 12 o’clock position, the minute hand moves all at once from one minute to the next.

In fact, Swiss railway clocks have an added complication that Apple’s new Clock app for iPad does not copy. On Swiss railway clocks, when the second hand reaches 12 o’clock, it pauses there for a second, after which the minute hand moves, and the second hand resumes its sweep around the clock face. The inclusion of this slight delay at the end/beginning of each minute means that for most of the minute, the second hand is actually moving a tiny bit more quickly than 6 degrees per second.

The clock owes its technology to the particular requirements of operating a railway. First, railway timetables do not list seconds; trains always leave the station on the full minute. Secondly, all the clocks at a railway station have to run synchronously in order to show reliable time for both passengers and railway personnel anywhere on or around the station.

For the reasons above, the station clocks in Switzerland are synchronized by receiving an electrical impulse from a central master clock at each full minute, advancing the minute hand by one minute. The second hand is driven by an electrical motor independent of the master clock. It requires only about 58.5 seconds to circle the face, then the hand pauses briefly at the top of the clock. It starts a new rotation as soon as it receives the next minute impulse from the master clock.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

Let me ask before you go further... Does the kerning on the iOS Calendar icon bother you as well?

The SBB-CFF design is optimized for viewing at a distance, but not that great up close and personal. Given the design filiation between Dieter Rams and Jony Ive, you would have expected an Apple clock app to follow the minimalist Lubs & Rams design language for Braun clocks.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

This is either masterful trolling or you need to relax (just a tad bit).

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Clocks can work any way their designers want to make them work. If it's a sweeping minute hand or one that advances only once every 60 seconds, it's been done.

High five to the commenter on the original story who predicted this outcome and correctly pointed out that this could only be a strategic move by Apple to cement the concept that has design should have a value.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

That is exactly how Swiss railway clocks work. When the second hand reaches the 12 o’clock position, the minute hand moves all at once from one minute to the next.

In fact, Swiss railway clocks have an added complication that Apple’s new Clock app for iPad does not copy. On Swiss railway clocks, when the second hand reaches 12 o’clock, it pauses there for a second, after which the minute hand moves, and the second hand resumes its sweep around the clock face. The inclusion of this slight delay at the end/beginning of each minute means that for most of the minute, the second hand is actually moving a tiny bit more quickly than 6 degrees per second.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

I suppose it all depends on the internal mechanics. Given the Swiss have a strong history in clock making, I am sure they have all sorts of solutions.

If you check out this video, you will see the clock does jump from minute to minute (I had to go and check), rather than having a smooth movement:

Err...how? Apple settled and paid here when they were caught infringing, just as they paid Nokia hundreds of millions of dollars last year to settle claims made by Nokia. If anything, Apple's been much better about paying licensing fees for patents and designs than the likes of Samsung.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

As people have already pointed out, these clocks do, indeed, work this way. However, how would you be able to tell the difference between 10:12:56 with a sweep minute hand, and 10:13:56 with a fixed-increment minute hand? 10:12:56 is awfully close 10:13:00.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Actually, that's precisely how the Swiss Railway clock works: it has a ticking minute hand. The sweeping second hand also pauses at the top for about a second before the minute tick occurs (which isn't reflected in the Apple version, as far as I know).

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

I imagine you feel a bit silly by this point. Might I recommend decaf.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

As people have already pointed out, these clocks do, indeed, work this way. However, how would you be able to tell the difference between 10:12:56 with a sweep minute hand, and 10:13:56 with a fixed-increment minute hand? 10:12:56 is awfully close 10:13:00.

A brief observation of the clock should suffice.

"At 30 seconds past the minute, the minute hand is still on the number. Ok. I now can read this clock accurately."

High five to the commenter on the original story who predicted this outcome and correctly pointed out that this could only be a strategic move by Apple to cement the concept that has design should have a value.

I would agree if not for that fact that they didn't license the design before SBB talked about possible legal actions. The right thing to do is reach an agreement with SBB *before* they release their OS, and before anyone pointed out the similarity between the two. Now THAT would be a be slap in Samsung's face.

As it stands it's more of an "Ooops, alright, you got us. Since we just won a cool B against another company on the ground that they stole our design, it's probably a preeeetty good idea to pay up and resolve this ASAP. We certainly didn't think that a circle with a few additional geometrical shapes could be copyright and trademarked but annnnnyway..."

The clock owes its technology to the particular requirements of operating a railway. First, railway timetables do not list seconds; trains always leave the station on the full minute. Secondly, all the clocks at a railway station have to run synchronously in order to show reliable time for both passengers and railway personnel anywhere on or around the station.

For the reasons above, the station clocks in Switzerland are synchronized by receiving an electrical impulse from a central master clock at each full minute, advancing the minute hand by one minute. The second hand is driven by an electrical motor independent of the master clock. It requires only about 58.5 seconds to circle the face, then the hand pauses briefly at the top of the clock. It starts a new rotation as soon as it receives the next minute impulse from the master clock.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

That *is* how Swiss railway clocks work. When the second hand reaches the 12 o’clock position, the minute hand moves all at once from one minute to the next.

In fact, Swiss railway clocks have an added complication that Apple’s new Clock app for iPad does not copy. On Swiss railway clocks, when the second hand reaches 12 o’clock, it pauses there for a second, after which the minute hand moves, and the second hand resumes its sweep around the clock face. The inclusion of this slight delay at the end/beginning of each minute means that for most of the minute, the second hand is actually moving a tiny bit more quickly than 6 degrees per second.

So then the iOS clock may copy the design of the Swiss railway clock, but not the 'look and feel'.

High five to the commenter on the original story who predicted this outcome and correctly pointed out that this could only be a strategic move by Apple to cement the concept that has design should have a value.

I would agree if not for that fact that they didn't license the design before SBB talked about possible legal actions. The right thing to do is reach an agreement with SBB *before* they release their OS, and before anyone pointed out the similarity between the two. Now THAT would be a be slap in Samsung's face.

As it stands it's more of an "Ooops, alright, you got us. Since we just won a cool B against another company on the ground that they stole our design, it's probably a preeeetty good idea to pay up and resolve this ASAP. We certainly didn't think that a circle with a few additional geometrical shapes could be copyright and trademarked but annnnnyway..."

While I don't buy into that story because I have no evidence to support it, if a deal had been done before hand there wouldn't have been any brouha and SBB won't have made a statement and this would have been a non starter.

As I've said in a previous thread; I wish I hadn't bought a Mondaine watch just a couple weeks before this happened. While I don't mind Apple's products, I went from being worldly and classy to just a fanboy.

I would agree if not for that fact that they didn't license the design before SBB talked about possible legal actions.

Eh, speaking from the experience of being in a Legal Department, having someone in another department design something, not consult with Legal to do an IP check, and only after it's been released get a note from someone saying "uh, thanks for stealing our design", is NOT uncommon. It's entirely possible that whoever made that app at Apple thought that they were doing a new design, even though they might have seen it in passing before, and Legal didn't get a chance to review it.

Believe me, I've lost count of the number of times we've received a "you copied our stuff" letter from someone, only to go back to our people and have them respond with "oh, that's where I got the idea from. Is that a problem?" Most people outside of Legal don't really think about these things until they have Legal knocking on their door.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

Jeez programmers, open your eyes. Things in the real world have actual predictable behaviors and ignoring those behaviors means you're not that good at interface design.

I suppose it all depends on the internal mechanics. Given the Swiss have a strong history in clock making, I am sure they have all sorts of solutions.

Isn't it all stepper motors now anyways? The physics of each widdle gear's precise, but gentle backlash can be all simulated in a computer, and played out by the hands however you like.

High five to the commenter on the original story who predicted this outcome and correctly pointed out that this could only be a strategic move by Apple to cement the concept that has design should have a value.

As it stands it's more of an "Ooops, alright, you got us. Since we just won a cool B against another company on the ground that they stole our design, it's probably a preeeetty good idea to pay up and resolve this ASAP. We certainly didn't think that a circle with a few additional geometrical shapes could be copyright and trademarked but annnnnyway..."

Apple, like any giant company that employs tens of thousands of people, makes mistakes. Your point here is basically that admitting and fixing a mistake further proves that they were trying to get away with doing something wrong. I hope you can see what a non-sequitor that is.

The issue of intentionality is also not this simple with companies, again because there are lots of people. We have no idea whether the clock design team thought they were getting away with something, thought there was already a license in place, or thought that the clock design was public domain. We don't know any of the history here, your vivid imagination notwithstanding.

All we actually know is that Apple acknowledged and fixed the issue once SBB complained. Compare that to, say, Samsung's document outlining the 120+ things they need to copy from iPhone followed by the vigorous defense that they didn't copy anything and that they did copy but it was OK, and you see two companies with pretty different approaches to IP.

High five to the commenter on the original story who predicted this outcome and correctly pointed out that this could only be a strategic move by Apple to cement the concept that has design should have a value.

As it stands it's more of an "Ooops, alright, you got us. Since we just won a cool B against another company on the ground that they stole our design, it's probably a preeeetty good idea to pay up and resolve this ASAP. We certainly didn't think that a circle with a few additional geometrical shapes could be copyright and trademarked but annnnnyway..."

Apple, like any giant company that employs tens of thousands of people, makes mistakes. Your point here is basically that admitting and fixing a mistake further proves that they were trying to get away with doing something wrong. I hope you can see what a non-sequitor that is.

The issue of intentionality is also not this simple with companies, again because there are lots of people. We have no idea whether the clock design team thought they were getting away with something, thought there was already a license in place, or thought that the clock design was public domain. We don't know any of the history here, your vivid imagination notwithstanding.

All we actually know is that Apple acknowledged and fixed the issue once SBB complained. Compare that to, say, Samsung's document outlining the 120+ things they need to copy from iPhone followed by the vigorous defense that they didn't copy anything and that they did copy but it was OK, and you see two companies with pretty different approaches to IP.

For the reasons above, the station clocks in Switzerland are synchronized by receiving an electrical impulse from a central master clock at each full minute, advancing the minute hand by one minute. The second hand is driven by an electrical motor independent of the master clock. It requires only about 58.5 seconds to circle the face, then the hand pauses briefly at the top of the clock. It starts a new rotation as soon as it receives the next minute impulse from the master clock.

The Hilfike is an iconic design and well known in horological circles. However, the clock image posted here is not a good representation of this--or any--mechanical clock. The image shows 10:13:56 and yet the minute hand is on the 13. THAT'S NOT HOW CLOCKS WORK.

That is exactly how Swiss railway clocks work. When the second hand reaches the 12 o’clock position, the minute hand moves all at once from one minute to the next.

Because of this post, I stared at my wristwatch for 2 1/2 minutes to determine it's behavior as it's a mechanical watch. I'd had it for a few years, but until now, I couldn't have told you which way it behaved. For the final minute of my observation, I felt pretty foolish. Thank you.